The Poet Lin Bu Wandering in the Moonlight
1404
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
1404
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Poet Lin Bu Wandering in the Moonlight is a 1404 unspecified by Du Jin, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man in a long robe walks under a gnarled tree at night. The moon glows behind thin clouds, lighting the branches and the poet’s face. Rocks and a few plum blossoms dot the scene. This painting shows Lin Bu, a poet who lived alone with his plum trees and cranes. He wrote about the quiet beauty of winter blossoms. The artist, Du Jin, used quick, lively brushstrokes to make the tree and rocks feel alive. To see more quiet night scenes like this, look up *The Cleveland Museum of Art*.
Lin Bu (967–1028), a Northern Song (960–1127) poet and hermit who lived at the West Lake in Hangzhou, was known for having plum trees for his female companions and cranes for his children. This hanging scroll depicts the poet walking in the moonlight and looking at the plum tree, a scene described in his most well-known poem on plum blossoms. Surviving works signed by Du Jin are rare and this painting is one of them. Here, the artist used lively brushwork to depict the plum tree and rocks, exemplified in varying dots and strokes, and sweeps in different shades of ink.
Lin Bu withdrew from prestigious government service and lived as a hermit by the West Lake in Hangzhou.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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